Joran, Casey and Psychopathic Narcissism: A Forensic Commentary

Friday the 13th turns out to have been unlucky for murder defendant Joran van der Sloot. The latest installment in the notorious case of the now twenty-four-year-old Dutchman consisted of his self-serving and disingenuous confession in a Peruvian courtroom this week. By dint of delivering this brief formal statement, van der Sloot pled guilty, and hoped to save himself from serving a far longer sentence than he would have without confessing under Peruvian law. However, today, those hopes were dashed. He was sentenced, fittingly by a panel of three female judges, to 28 years in prison. His affect during his courtroom appearances this week was inappropriate to the austere circumstance. Not psychotically inappropriate. But definitely inappropriate. He grinned and yawned frequently, giving the impression of being bored and unfazed by the proceedings. But today he seemed defeated, anxious, sad and very angry after hearing his sentence.

Having previously posted multiple times on both this and the Casey Anthony case (see some of my prior posts), it is hard not to note some similarities in the demeanor (if not alleged crimes) of these two young people. How can we make sense of their seeming lack of profoundly human, universal feelings like empathy, guilt, remorse or shame? Though I cannot provide a detailed and accurate psychological evaluation of defendants (or former defendants) without having first formally examined them myself, there is clearly much to learn from studying these two tragic cases. So let us sum up what little we do know and consider what these cases have in common and what they can tell us about human nature and criminal psychology.

To begin with, it is important to note that, by definition, Antisocial Personality Disorder "is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15 years" (DSM-IV-TR). Moreover, diagnostic criteria includes "failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest," "deceitfulness," "reckless disregard for safety of self or others," and, maybe most tellingly, "lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another." Whenever we see some pattern of potentially illegal behaviors combined with the absence of remorse and appropriate affect, we are likely witnessing, at the very least, what clinicians call "antisocial traits." As I have proposed in prior posts, there is a close correlation between antisocial behavior and pathological narcissism. So much so that I employ the term "psychopathic narcissism" to describe such individuals. Defendants like Casey Anthony (now acquitted) and Joran van der Sloot (now convicted) typically tend to be so detached and dissociated from their own humanity that they are clueless as to what they really feel and how their inappropriate and selfish behavior is perceived by others. They appear to be heartless, depraved monsters devoid of all human caring and decency. Bad seeds. But behind their extremely effective facade, mask or persona, hides a hurt and angry little girl or boy running destructively amok in the big world. Sociopaths are, as I have argued elsewhere, primarily made, not born. (See my prior post.)

Another stunning similarity between Casey and Joran is their obvious cunning and native intelligence. We see this clearly demonstrated in both Casey's creatively elaborate lying behavior to police, her parents and others. (According to experienced prosecutor Jeff Ashton, "she was the best liar I`ve ever seen.") As well as in her apparently complete conning of a seasoned forensic psychologist (see my prior post). And in Joran's impressive talent for telling conflicting tales designed to confuse, control and manipulate others. Narcissistic Personality Disorder describes someone who is "interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends," "lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings of others," and "shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes" (DSM-IV-TR). In the case of van der Sloot, it is precisely his cunning intelligence--captured, for example, in the evidentiary video in which, having probably already brutally strangled his Peruvian victim, leaving her lifeless, battered body in his bloody hotel room according to his own confession, he calmly and calculatingly feigns, for the security cameras, nonchalently returning there with two coffees, knocks on the door, and then has the staff unlock the door, acting convincingly as though all is well and he has absolutely nothing to hide--coupled with a barely controlled rage that makes him such a dangerous person.

Having said all that, neither I nor any forensic psychologist can accurately or ethically diagnose a defendant from afar, without having ever examined him or her. But I believe that both of these cases demonstrate and, indeed, exemplify certain manifestations of what I call "psychopathic narcissism." This would be my proposed hybrid diagnosis for defendants with symptoms similar to those we see in individuals like van der Sloot and Anthony, a pathological and potentially deadly combination of narcissistic and antisocial traits.Today, we seem to be witnessing a proliferation of psychopathic narcissism--what I perceive as pathological narcissism in extremis--as seen in recent cases like the so-called "Craigslist Killer" Phillip Markoff, Chris Coleman, the minister's son who may have murdered his wife and two children in their sleep, Scott Peterson, Joran van der Sloot, and Casey Anthony, now acquitted of killing her own daughter in Florida. Narcissistic wounding underlies and drives both narcissistic and antisocial personality disorders, which are, in my opinion, best understood as anger disorders resulting from the chronic denial or repression of rage since early childhood.

As Joran van der Sloot's now public psychological evaluation from prison reportedly suggests, the person suffering from and cruelly causing others to suffer from psychopathic narcissism is fundamentally an immature, selfish, self-centered, resentful and raging child inside a powerful adult body. They are angry with their parents, angry with authority, angry with God, angry with life. They have been hurt, abused, emotionally wounded, deprived, overindulged, spoiled, abandoned or neglected in various ways--some grossly and some much more subtly--and are still bitterly lashing out against the world. Against society. Against authority. And, perhaps, in van der Sloot's case, lashing out against women in particular. When you have a pissed-off, impulsive five or ten-year-old in a big, strong body, with the freedom to do just as he pleases--drive a car, drink, gamble, travel, have sex, do drugs, exploit, intimidate and bully others and generally get his own way--you have an extraordinarily dangerous person capable of the most evil deeds. Such angry, vindictive, embittered, opportunistic and sometimes predatory people see the world as their personal playground, and everyone in it as their potential next victim. To quote convicted mass murderer and poster boy for such antisocial tendencies, Charles Manson : "I'm still a little five-year-old kid." Being unconsciously controlled and driven by this hurt, selfish and enraged inner child is an exceedingly dangerous state of mind.

At his hearing, van der Sloot's lawyer suggested that Joran was suffering at the time of Ms. Flores' murder from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) resulting from both the Natalee Holloway case and the sudden and untimely death of his father. Was this yet another cynical effort by van der Sloot, via his lawyer, to cleverly manipulate the Peruvian justice system?Malingering--the conscious and intentional effort to make oneself seem more mentally or physically ill in an attempt to manipulate the external system one is dealing with--is an ever-present pitfall in the practice of forensic psychology and psychiatry. It can be extremely difficult to distinguish between "faking bad" (exaggerating or fabricating symptoms) or "faking good" (some defendants don't wish to be seen as mentally ill, as, for instance, in the case of convicted "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski.) Most forensic clinicians rely primarily on their extensive training and, especially, prior experience (and often on the results of standardized psychological testing, such as the MMPI-2) to detect the presence of feigning, manipulation, dissimulation, lying, defensiveness, secondary gain, and the like. For me, however, the most important clues to whether someone suffers legitimately from a serious mental disorder or is faking or exaggerating his or her symptoms, come from a composite of history, current context and clinical presentation. Major mental disorders such as Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Antisocial or Narcissistic personality disorders, etc. seem to stem in part from archetypal patterns of potentiality embedded deeply in the human psyche. By archetypal, I mean universally present in each of us. It is not so much a matter of certain individuals being born with a specific predisposition toward a particular mental disorder as what takes place after birth (and possibly even prenatally) in the interplay of temperament and environment to trigger some particular pathological archetypal pattern. Schizophrenics have very similar patterns of pathology. So do sufferers of bipolar or unipolar depression. As do psychopaths and serial killers. Which is why they can be profiled to some extent. In this rather Jungian perspective, they each have their archetypal or universal patterns of behavior and experience, notable cultural differences not withstanding. With sufficient forensic experience, clinicians become familiar with these common patterns, and can compare the defendant's complaints, symptoms, behavior and history with what they know to be typical (or atypical) in similar cases.

For example, suppose van der Sloot--who has already been evaluated and described by a forensic psychologist or psychiatrist in Peru as demonstrating a low threshold for frustration tolerance, emotional immaturity, superficial relationships, need for constant stimulation, and a hostile, dominating attitude toward women--turns out to be officially diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder, the American Psychiatric Association's (DSM-lV-TR) official term for sociopathy, psychopathy, amoral or dissocial personality? The possibility, indeed likelihood, of malingering must always be considered in forensic evaluations of defendants with possible Antisocial Personality Disorder or traits. Such defendants can be quite sophisticated (and some only think they are) in their knowledge of both psychology/psychiatry and the legal system. One classic example would be convicted serial killer Kenneth Bianchi, the "Hillside Strangler," who tried unsuccessfully to convince evaluators that he suffered from multiple personality disorder, now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder. And some sociopaths are cunning and proficient enough to fool standardized psychological tests like the MMPI-2, which may be exactly what occurred in Ms. Anthony's case. (See the forensic evaluations of Casey coincidentally made public this week.)

The immense narcissism of such defendants convinces them that they can outsmart the system. In the same way that van der Sloot's reported compulsive gambling may reflect a grandiose, narcissistic overconfidence that he could beat the casino system. When van der Sloot told investigators during his recanted original confession that he was intoxicated, "did not want to do it," became "angry," "lost control" "wasn't thinking clearly," recalled his actions but not his motive, and didn't know what he was doing when impulsively killing Stephany Flores, was he deliberately lying in such a way he believed would help his legal situation? How much had he learned from his father, Paulus, a lawyer and judge in Aruba, about issues like mens rea, irresistible impulse, and mental mitigation under the law? Or through his own research? Or, could he have been telling the truth? Could he have acted purely impulsively, flew into a furious frenzy, without premeditation or malice, perhaps out of frustration of sexual rejection or fear of Stephany exposing his possible culpability in the Natalee Holloway case? Could this have been a crime of passion as he claims? Or is Joran a calculating, predatory sexual psychopath who knew exactly what he intended to do with both Stephany Flores and, five years earlier, Natalee Holloway from the start?

If he is lying, this would be par for the course for the antisocial or psychopathically narcissistic defendant. Lying, deceitfulness, conning, manipulation, deflection of responsibility, rationalization and malingering come with the territory. If he is telling the truth, if he did kill the victim or victims in a murderous rage rather than as part of a premeditated plan or predatory behavioral pattern, then forensic evaluators would have to consider the possible presence of some other or additional mental disorder, an impulse-control disorder such as Intermittent Explosive Disorder or maybe even Bipolar Disorder. Or what might better be conceptualized as an anger disorder. According to Joran's own mother, Anita, he is "sick in his head," had been "traumatized" and "depressed" since the Natalee Holloway case and the death of his father, suffers from an "addiction," and was behaving bizarrely in the weeks prior to the crime. Indeed, Joran was, according to his mother, scheduled to enter a psychiatric clinic or hospital for treatment in the Netherlands just days before he abruptly took off instead to South America. And there is some reported history of problems with impulsive anger and aggressive behavior going back at least to age fifteen or sixteen, suggesting the possible pre-existing diagnosis of Conduct Disorder--a prerequiste for the diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder after the age of eighteen. Such a finding of some diagnosed major (Axis 1) mental disorder other than Antisocial Personality Disorder, could, here in California, for instance, qualify a defendant for a possible insanity defense, which, under the law, cannot be utilized solely on the basis of the presence of a personality disorder like APD or NPD. In other states, and perhaps in Peru, it could conceivably be used to gain him consideration for reduced sentencing. Is this what Joran was craftily considering all along, prior to ultimately deciding to plead guilty to this evil deed? If so, it illustrates his extraordinary Machiavellian cunning and uncanny ability to intelligently anticipate, plan and manipulate calmly and calculatingly on the fly. Even in, what for most others, would be intensely distressing and disorienting circumstances.

The synchronistic fact that this atrocious killing occurred on precisely the same date as the Holloway disappearance, seems more than mere meaningless coincidence. Like the still missing and now presumed dead eighteen-year-old Natalee, van der Sloot reportedly met the twenty-one-year-old Stephany at a casino at night and was seen returning to his hotel room with her around 5 AM Sunday morning. He was witnessed leaving the hotel room alone several hours later with his bags. And, evidently, Stephany's money, credit cards and car. Three days later, on Tuesday, the victim's lifeless, half-naked body face down, was found by hotel staff in his blood-spattered room. Could Joran van der Sloot be more than merely a selfish, spoiled kid who callously covered up the accidental death of an intoxicated sexual partner in Aruba? Could he actually be a predatory serial killer of two young women, including Natalee Holloway? And might he have murdered more women along the way?

I have commented extensively on the Natalee Holloway case in a previous post. At that time, there was no known prior history of violence attributed to van der Sloot. Holloway's body has never been recovered. (In another eerie coincidence, Natalee, still missing, was declared legally dead just this week.) No forensic evidence of homicide had, at least to my knowledge, been found. Since then, Joran confessed publicly and privately to several accidental versions of involvement in Holloway's death, but almost immediately denied the veracity of his own statements. His father, a judge in the Aruban legal system who may well have helped his son illegally cover up Natalee's death, suddenly collapsed and died while playing tennis several years ago. He was relatively young. Had the chronic stress of the Holloway case and his own possible illegal involvement taken its fatal toll?

Joran, while briefly re-arrested since Holloway's disappearance, had been free to travel around the globe, and was secretly videotaped recruiting young women in Thailand to work in the Netherlands as prostitutes. In addition, he was charged with allegedly attempting to sleezily extort 250,000 dollars from Natalee Holloway's mother in return for telling her the location of her daughter's remains and details of her death. Van der Sloot was in Lima, Peru participating in a poker tournament. He apparently fancies himself a player. There are recent reports that his victim, Ms. Flores, won a significant sum of money that evening at the casino, all of which was missing from the horrific crime scene. Some sources suggested initially (though I don't think this proved true) that the victim may have been slipped GHB or Rohypnol, so-called "date rape" drugs--something the Holloway family has long suspected happened to Natalee that terrible night in Aruba.

Gradually, a chilling and telling pattern appears to take shape in the Joran van der Sloot case: Involvement in prostitution. Gambling. Extortion. Willfully concealing, according to at least one of his stories, a young American woman's death. And quite conceivably, rape, robbery and multiple murder. A pervasive disregard for and violation of the rights of others. Repeated illegal activities. Deceitfulness. Skillful lying. Conning. Physical aggressiveness. Sadistic cruelty. Irresponsibility. Impulsivity. Grandiosity. Absence of empathy. Exploitation of others. Apparent total lack of remorse for having hurt, mistreated or stolen from someone. This classic constellation of symptoms and suspected evil deeds in any defendant would demand that a forensic psychologist or psychiatrist carefully consider the presence of sociopathy, psychopathy, dyssocial or antisocial personality disorder. Or what in cases like this might be more descriptively termed "psychopathic narcissism." But what causes such selfish, antisocial attitudes and behaviors?

Little is known publicly about Joran's childhood and family history. He appears to have grown up in a middle to upper middle class, well-to-do family, the eldest of three sons. His father, Paulus, was a prominent lawyer. His mother, Anita, a school teacher. However, there have been unsubstantiated stories that in the year before meeting Natalee Holloway, Joran, then perhaps sixteen, pushed a classmate through a plate glass window, and was supposedly described by some who knew him as having "anger management" problems. There is another unconfirmed report that Joran may have severely beaten up his brother at one time. From a forensic perspective, it would be important to learn whether the defendant did indeed have a history of physical aggression, fighting or assaults prior to the alleged crime or crimes. If Joran van der Sloot is the spoiled brat, the arrogant bully, the self-centered, manipulative, narcissistic, misogynistic murderer many make him out to be, and the killer he now admits to being, what might have made him so? Is he an embodiment of the proverbial "bad seed"? Evil incarnate? Demonic possession? Or could his privileged, protected and permissive upbringing have been the primary root of his problems?

Extremely negative, traumatic childhood experiences are typically part of the psychopath's family history. The severe childhood neglect, abandonment and abuse of Charles Manson is one textbook example. At this point, we have no way of knowing what type of psychological environment young Joran was exposed to early on, and have very limited information on the personalities and problems of his parents during that time. But we must remember, as Sigmund Freud made clear, that during the most crucial phases of personality development in childhood, profound damage or "fixation" can be done not only by getting too little love, attention, gratification of needs, but equally by receiving too much of these necessary positive influences. Children naturally need love, affection, support, attention and recognition. But they also need firm limit-setting, boundaries, appropriate and consistent consequences for bad behavior, discipline, and what developmental psychologists call "optimal frustration." Optimal frustration is how children learn to delay gratification, persevere at tasks, develop inner strength and independence, and adapt to what Freud referred to as the reality principle.

Children must be taught by and learn from their parents or caretakers that the world does not revolve around them, and that there are some behaviors that are wrong and won't be tolerated. When a child does not receive such an education at home, he or she is ill-prepared to deal with the world at large. In such cases, we see an unchecked infantile egoism or narcissism never sufficiently socialized, and therefore, never moderated. Eventually, their bad behavior accepted at home intensifies into evil deeds, landing them in big trouble in the big world. It is quite possible that this was the situation for Joran van der Sloot. He may have come from a home where his healthy narcissistic needs were overindulged by his parents, and hence, became unmitigated and pathological. Strange as it may seem, such overindulgence, lack of discipline, and overprotectiveness on the part of sometimes sincerely well-meaning parents can be as deeply wounding and destructive as its polar opposite: neglect, abandonment, abuse, deprivation. It is in itself a traumatizing type of deprivation and abandonment in which the child's basic needs for structure, guidance, limit-setting, consequences, reality testing, supervision and parental authority are ignored, neglected and frustrated. In a sense, the child feels that the overindulgent, overpermissive parent doesn't care enough to provide the limit-setting and structure he or she needs. And the child is at first hurt by, and then angered at this parental failure and lack of responsibility. This anger, having no real outlet (how can a child be angry with such ostensibly loving, nurturing and indulgent parents?), tends to be repressed and fester, turning over time into toxic resentment, embitterment and narcissistic rage. But the psychopathic narcissist masks this rage masterfully in most situations.

A sense of "narcissistic entitlement" is characteristic of both narcissistic and antisocial personality disorder. And both share in common a distinct lack of empathy with their fellow man, being unwilling or unable to feel compassion toward, nor identify with, the emotions and needs of others. Such grossly inhumane attitudes and behaviors stem mainly from a combination of compensatory grandiosity and a schizoid-like detachment from their own feelings. The primary difference between narcissistic and antisocial personality disorder is one of degree, differentiated largely by the relative strength or weakness of what Freud called superego, as well as by the severity, type or intensity of past narcissistic wounding. The border between these two personality disorders is blurry, and sometimes indistinguishable. Psychoanalyst Otto Kernberg (1992) describes certain destructively aggressive, antisocial patients as suffering from "malignant narcissism," which is akin to what I am here calling "psychopathic narcissism."

Traditionally, classic psychopaths are described as being "cold-blooded." But how can the vicious brutality of beating a young woman to death be construed as anything but an impassioned rage killing? (Unless it was deliberately staged to look this way.) Why the totally excessive overkill? Joran told police that he killled Stephany in anger when she snooped into his "private life" on his laptop. Had she found incriminating evidence regarding the Holloway case? Did van der Sloot kill Stephany to silence her? Another possible explanation for such cases would be that the killer was trying to mutilate the body so as to make post mortem identification difficult or impossible, clearly a cold, deliberate calculation. "Jack the Ripper," who terrorized nineteenth century London, mutilated his victims, female prostitutes, not to conceal their identity, but in part as an expression of a suspected rabid hatred of women. His (or her) identity was never finally determined, but one of the most likely suspects was reportedly an American with a well-known animus toward the feminine gender. In a fairly recent sensational New Zealand murder case (see my prior post), a university tutor allegedly stabbed his twenty-two-year-old ex-girlfriend more than two-hundred times, severely mutilating her lips, breasts and genitals. It was evidently all about narcissistic rage. Was van der Sloot sexually rejected by Ms. Flores? Did he fly into a violently narcissistic rage? A homicidal adult temper tantrum? Or was this possibly a robbery gone horribly wrong? Or something else?

As I have suggested elsewhere (see my article "Violence as Secular Evil"), repressed anger, rage, resentment and hatred are at the heart of psychopathic narcissism as well as so many other serious and dangerous mental disorders. So what might the confessed murderer Joran van der Sloot be so enraged or embittered about? What do van der Sloot's reported behaviors say about his feelings toward women? The extremely violent nature of the alleged killing of Stephany Flores suggests that this was, to some extent, a rage killing. Such vicious anger, rage and hatred toward women is typically rooted in tremendous unconscious hostility toward the mother, and a devaluation of the feminine in general. For psychopathic narcissists, it may also have to do with women being more vulnerable to victimizing with their sadistic, cruel, hostile impulses, much as animals, insects or younger children tend to play this victim role for severely troubled adolescents diagnosed with Conduct Disorder-- often a prelude to adult psychopathy. Indeed, in the case of a defendant like Joran van der Sloot, it would not be surprising to find during forensic evaluation that, as a boy or teenager, he at some point manifested at least some of the symptoms of Conduct Disorder.

Now that van der Sloot has chosen conveniently to plead guilty to his crime in Peru, he will likely serve at least half of his 28 year sentence. He has thus far fairly skillfully manipulated the Peruvian justice system, in much the same way many believe Casey Anthony successfully manipulated the justice system in Florida. And he may only be getting started. Ultimately, I believe that van der Sloot's incarceration in Peru will eventually lead to a resolution of the Natalee Holloway case. And he may be holding onto that information as his trump or "get out of jail free" card. In fact, it appears he will be extradited to the U.S. soon to face Federal extortion charges here. But if he does serve and survive his prison sentence and eventually regain his freedom, Joran could conceivably be released before he turns forty. If he is a prime example of psychopathic narcissism, a vicious serial killer, that is a very scary prospect. And many observers feel equally queasy about Casey Anthony's newfound freedom. Who knows? Fate can be funny. Maybe those two are really made for each other.

Josephine Marcus: Interesting little scene. I wonder who that tall drink of water is.

Mr. Fabian: My dear, you've set your gaze upon the quintessential frontier type. Note the lean silhouette... eyes closed by the sun, though sharp as a hawk. He's got the look of both predator and prey.

I don't know Mr. Van de Sloot but Dr. Diamond is probably correct in his analysis of the case. I'm not a pychological expert but one of my sisters is a narcissist and I find her rather scary and troubling, enough to have stayed away as far as possible for the last 25 years. Even though we both lived in the same house and had the same parents, for reasons that are way too complex to mention here, that particular sister was given no restraints, no punishment and no boundaries as a child. I don't think she'd kill anyone but that would only be because any type of trial or accusation would upset the carefully crafted system of control and manipulation over her husband, children and my mother. If my sister had something to gain by killing somebody she'd do it, and could easily manipulated the US Judicial System into letting her walk. She terrifies me.

Because of my sister I know enough as a layman to spot a narcissist at 50 feet. I've run into them here and there, they can be charming, persuasive and endearing when it is in their best interest. I'm sure Mr. Van der Sloot can turn on the charm when it is needed. I think he hit a road block in Peru. At his sentencing we saw a different demeanor, he wasn't as confident as he was in the past. I've been to Peru, the county seems relatively grounded. I'm glad they gave him 3 female judges, which was sure Joran's undoing. Men are physically stronger than women, women are under intense pressure to be romantic relationships, women are more sensitive when it comes to feelings. Women are often the targets of narcissist and psychopaths. At least one of those 3 judges has seen this personality type before in her personal life, I guarantee it.

The problem with prisons is that they are filled with narcissist and psychopaths. They say that 90% of inmates have some sort of mental challenge and I believe the studies. In prison everybody is gaming everybody else. In prison the biggest meanest evilest prisoner runs the entire prison. Joran will not be the leader and the manipulator in a Peruvian prison. If they send him to Challapalca he's toast.

The superego is heir to the Oedipus complex but has a much larger developmental legacy which includes preoedipal precursors and the influence of latency and adolescence. The superego continues to change in function and content throughout life, and radical transformation in adolescence may result in developmental discontinuity as well as core developmental continuity. A case is discussed in which adolescence was overlooked in previous analysis and in which adolescent superego modification had a major impact on the patient's character and his adult neurosis. The developmental significance of adolescence experienced under conditions of social isolation and rejection with forebodings of the Holocaust was unrecognized in sanctioned silence and shared analytic denial. These repeated earlier experiences of silent submission and stifled protest, and the silent suffering of the patient and his family, were an integral part of his humiliating and emasculating adolescent experiences. The intimidated adolescent, threatened from within and without, identified with the aggressor as well as with the victim. Identification with the aggressor and glorified victor contributed to a final adolescent structuralization of a punitive, sadistic superego and a rigidly perfectionistic ego ideal. As an adult, he tended to passive masochistic compliance with diminished self-esteem and unconscious self-denigration. He was prone to shame and guilt, self-criticism, and hidden hypercritical attitudes toward others. The adolescent internalization of aggression, intense castration anxiety, and pervasive narcissistic mortification led to retreat from resolution of revived oedipal conflict and to concomitant detrimental superego alteration. These issues were of major importance for analytic understanding and therapeutic progress.

3)Cohen's Thundercloud
a. Four Horsemen in Doc Holliday vs Johnny Ringo
b. Stick-to-it-ivity. Some equate the four horsemen with the angels of the four winds.(See Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel, angels often associated with four cardinal directions)

All homeostatic control mechanisms have at least three interdependent components for the variable being regulated: The receptor is the sensing component that monitors and responds to changes in the environment. When the receptor senses a stimulus, it sends information to a "control center", the component that sets the range at which a variable is maintained. The control center determines an appropriate response to the stimulus. In most homeostatic mechanisms, the control center is the brain. The control center then sends signals to an effector, which can be muscles, organs or other structures that receive signals from the control center. After receiving the signal, a change occurs to correct the deviation by either enhancing it with positive feedback or depressing it with negative feedback.

12. Constants, parameters, numbers (such as subsidies, taxes, standards)Parameters are points of lowest leverage effects. Though they are the most clearly perceived among all leverages, they rarely change behaviors and therefore have little long-term effect.

For example, climate parameters may not be changed easily (the amount of rain, the evapotranspiration rate, the temperature of the water), but they are the ones people think of first (they remember that in their youth, it was certainly raining more). These parameters are indeed very important. But even if changed (improvement of upper river stream to canalize incoming water), they will not change behavior much (the debit will probably not dramatically decrease).

11. The size of buffers and other stabilizing stocks, relative to their flowsA buffer's ability to stabilize a system is important when the stock amount is much higher than the potential amount of inflows or outflows. In the lake, the water is the buffer: if there's a lot more of it than inflow/outflow, the system stays stable.

For example, the inhabitants are worried the lake fish might die as a consequence of hot water release directly in the lake without any previous cooling off. However, the water in the lake has a large heat capacity, so it's a strong thermic buffer. Provided the release is done at low enough depth, under the thermocline, and the lake volume is big enough, the buffering capacity of the water might prevent any extinction from excess temperature. Buffers can improve a system, but they are often physical entities whose size is critical and can't be changed easily.

10. Structure of material stocks and flows (such as transport network, population age structures)A system's structure may have enormous effect on operations, but may be difficult or prohibitively expensive to change. Fluctuations, limitations, and bottlenecks may be easier to address.

For example, the inhabitants are worried about their lake getting polluted, as the industry releases chemical pollutants directly in the water without any previous treatment. The system might need the used water to be diverted to a wastewater treatment plant, but this requires rebuilding the underground used water system (which could be quite expensive).

9. Length of delays, relative to the rate of system changesInformation received too quickly or too late can cause over- or underreaction, even oscillations.

For example, the city council is considering building the wastewater treatment plant. However, the plant will take 5 years to be built, and will last about 30 years. The first delay will prevent the water being cleaned up within the first 5 years, while the second delay will make it impossible to build a plant with exactly the right capacity.

8. Strength of negative feedback loops, relative to the effect they are trying to correct againstA negative feedback loop slows down a process, tending to promote stability. The loop will keep the stock near the goal, thanks to parameters, accuracy and speed of information feedback, and size of correcting flows.

For example, one way to avoid the lake getting more and more polluted might be through setting up an additional levy on the industrial plant based on measured concentrations of its effluent. Say the plant management has to pay into a water management fund, on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on the actual amount of waste found in the lake; they will, in this case, receive a direct benefit not just from reducing their waste output, but actually reducing it enough to achieve the desired effect of reducing concentrations in the lake. They cannot benefit from "doing damage more slowly" -- only from actually helping. If cutting emissions, even to zero, is insufficient to allow the lake to naturally purge the waste, then they will still be on the hook for cleanup. This is similar to the US "Superfund" system, and follows the widely accepted "polluter pays principle".

7. Gain around driving positive feedback loopsA positive feedback loop speeds up a process. Meadows indicates that in most cases, it is preferable to slow down a positive loop, rather than speeding up a negative one.

The eutrophication of a lake is a typical feedback loop that goes wild. In a eutrophic lake (which means well-nourished), lots of life can be supported (fish included).
An increase of nutrients will lead to an increase of productivity, growth of phytoplankton first, using up as much nutrients as possible, followed by growth of zooplankton, feeding up on the first ones, and increase of fish populations. The more available nutrients there are, the more productivity is increased. As plankton organisms die, they fall to the bottom of the lake, where their matter is degraded by decomposers.

However, this degradation uses up available oxygen, and in the presence of huge amounts of organic matter to degrade, the medium progressively becomes anoxic (there is no more oxygen available). In time, all oxygen-dependent life dies, and the lake becomes a smelly anoxic place where no life can be supported (in particular no fish).

6. Structure of information flow (who does and does not have access to what kinds of information)Information flow is neither a parameter, nor a reinforcing or slowing loop, but a loop that delivers new information. It is cheaper and easier to change information flows than it is to change structure.

For example, a monthly public report of water pollution level, especially nearby the industrial release, could have a lot of effect on people's opinions regarding the industry, and lead to changes in the waste water level of pollution.

5. Rules of the system (such as incentives, punishment, constraints)Pay attention to rules, and to who makes them.

For example, a strengthening of the law related to chemicals release limits, or an increase of the tax amount for any water containing a given pollutant, will have a very strong effect on the lake water quality.

4. Power to add, change, evolve, or self-organize system structureSelf-organization describes a system's ability to change itself by creating new structures, adding new negative and positive feedback loops, promoting new information flows, or making new rules.

For example, microorganisms have the ability to not only change to fit their new polluted environment, but also to undergo an evolution that makes them able to biodegrade or bioaccumulate chemical pollutants. This capacity of part of the system to participate in its own eco-evolution is a major leverage for change.

A city council decision might be to change the goal of the lake from making it a free facility for public and private use, to a more tourist oriented facility or a conservation area. That goal change will effect several of the above leverage points: information on water quality will become mandatory and legal punishment will be set for any illegal effluent.

2. Mindset or paradigm that the system — its goals, structure, rules, delays, parameters — arises fromA societal paradigm is an idea, a shared unstated assumption, or a system of thought that is the foundation of complex social structures. Paradigms are very hard to change, but there are no limits to paradigm change. Meadows indicates paradigms might be changed by repeatedly and consistently pointing out anomalies and failures in the current paradigm to those with open minds.

A current paradigm is "Nature is a stock of resources to be converted to human purpose". What might happen to the lake were this collective idea changed ?

1. Power to transcend paradigms Transcending paradigms may go beyond challenging fundamental assumptions, into the realm of changing the values and priorities that lead to the assumptions, and being able to choose among value sets at will.

Many today see Nature as a stock of resources to be converted to human purpose. Many Native Americans see Nature as a living god, to be loved, worshipped, and lived with. These views are incompatible, but perhaps another viewpoint could incorporate them both, along with others.

“Creativity is a lot like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements, the same ones everyone else sees, but then reassemble those floating bits and pieces into an enticing new possibility. Effective leaders are able to” - Rosabeth Moss Kanter

"What is courage? Courage is a kind of strength, power or resolve to meet a scary circumstance head on. Courage is called upon whenever we confront a difficult, frightening, painful or disturbing situation. When our resources are challenged or pushed to the absolute limit. When we feel threatened, weak, vulnerable, intimidated or terrified. When our first instinctive reaction is to flee. At such times, life is begging an existential question of us: Can we find the courage to face and defeat our fear, or will we be defeated by it? Can we call forth what theologian Paul Tillich called our "courage to be"? Or will we cowardly choose instead, as Shakespeare's Hamlet deliberates, "not to be"?

Den sidste Messias (English: The Last Messiah), published in 1933, is one of Peter Wessel Zapffe's most significant essays as well as concepts, which sums up his own thoughts from his book, On the Tragic, and, as a theory describes a reinterpretation of Friedrich Nietzsche's Übermensch. Zapffe believed that existential angst in humanity was the result of an overly evolved intellect, and that people overcome this by "artificially limiting the content of consciousness."

Zapffe views the human condition as tragically overdeveloped, calling it "a biological paradox, an abomination, an absurdity, an exaggeration of disastrous nature." Zapffe viewed the world as beyond humanity's need for meaning, unable to provide any of the answers to the fundamental existential questions.

The tragedy of a species becoming unfit for life by over-evolving one ability is not confined to humankind. Thus it is thought, for instance, that certain deer in paleontological times succumbed as they acquired overly-heavy horns. The mutations must be considered blind, they work, are thrown forth, without any contact of interest with their environment. In depressive states, the mind may be seen in the image of such an antler, in all its fantastic splendour pinning its bearer to the ground.

— Peter Wessel Zapffe, The Last Messiah

Throughout the essay, Zapffe alludes to Nietzsche, "the poster case, as it were, of seeing too much for sanity."

After placing the source of anguish in human intellect, Zapffe then sought as to why humanity simply didn't just perish. He concluded humanity "performs, to extend a settled phrase, a more or less self-conscious repression of its damaging surplus of consciousness" and that this was "a requirement of social adaptability and of everything commonly referred to as healthy and normal living." He provided four defined mechanisms of defense that allowed an individual to overcome their burden of intellect.

Remedies against panic

Isolation is the first method Zapffe noted, who defined it as "a fully arbitrary dismissal from consciousness of all disturbing and destructive thought and feeling" and cites "One should not think, it is just confusing" as an example.

Anchoring, according to Zapffe, is the "fixation of points within, or construction of walls around, the liquid fray of consciousness". The anchoring mechanism provides individuals a value or an ideal that allows them to focus their attentions in a consistent manner. Zapffe compared this mechanism to Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's concept of the life-lie from the play The Wild Duck, where the family has achieved a tolerable modus vivendi by ignoring the skeletons and by permitting each member to live in a dreamworld of his own. Zapffe also applied the anchoring principle to society, and stated "God, the Church, the State, morality, fate, the laws of life, the people, the future" are all examples of collective primary anchoring firmaments. He noted flaws in the principle's ability to properly address the human condition, and warned against the despair provoked resulting from discovering one's anchoring mechanism was false. Another shortcoming of anchoring is conflict between contradicting anchoring mechanisms, which Zapffe posits will bring one to destructive nihilism.

Distraction is when "one limits attention to the critical bounds by constantly enthralling it with impressions." Distraction focuses all of one's energy on a task or idea to prevent the mind from turning in on itself.

Sublimation is the refocusing of energy away from negative outlets, toward positive ones. Through stylistic or artistic gifts can the very pain of living at times be converted into valuable experiences. Positive impulses engage the evil and put it to their own ends, fastening onto its pictorial, dramatic, heroic, lyric or even comic aspects.... To write a tragedy, one must to some extent free oneself from- betray- the very feeling of tragedy and regard it from an outer, e.g. aesthetic, point of view. Here is, by the way, an opportunity for the wildest round-dancing through ever higher ironic levels, into a most embarrassing circulus vitiosus. Here one can chase one's ego across numerous habitats, enjoying the capacity of the various layers of consciousness to dispel one another. The present essay is a typical attempt at sublimation. The author does not suffer, he is filling pages and is going to be published in a journal.

— Peter Wessel Zapffe, The Last Messiah[1]

The last messiah Zapffe concluded that "As long as humankind recklessly proceeds in the fateful delusion of being biologically fated for triumph, nothing essential will change." Mankind will get increasingly desperate until 'the last messiah' arrives, "the man who, as the first of all, has dared strip his soul naked and submit it alive to the outmost thought of the lineage, the very idea of doom. A man who has fathomed life and its cosmic ground, and whose pain is the Earth's collective pain." Zapffe compares his messiah to Moses, but ultimately rejects the precept to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,” by saying “Know yourselves – be infertile, and let the earth be silent after ye.

because she beat him at poker! He considers himself a poker player; beaten at his 'own' game by a woman. Not acceptable to Joren. So, he congratulated her, pretended to be impressed, turned on the charm, etc and then took her back to his room and killed her for being female and better than he was at the game. Why she went with him will never be known, but his rage at defeat at the hands of a female is the 'reason' he has given himself for the murder. The anniversary of Natalee Holloway's death just added some punch to his joy and delight as he beat that young woman to death. Sick boy. Some woman would have died that night. He had delayed his gratification long enough and Stephany was perfect. Young, lovely, smarter than he was, better at poker than he was - his perfect victim. In his mind I'm sure he feels completely justified in killing her; she deserved it as far as he is concerned.

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